Clint Guidry of the LA Shrimpers Assoc. at the New Orleans 6 Month Disaster events, one of the three 6-Month Anniversary Event sites (Biloxi, MS / Mobile, AL / New Orleans, LA). Photo courtesy of the Gulf Restoration Network.

The Oil is Still Here and So Are We: Six months after the onset of the BP disaster, a lot has changed in the Gulf region. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar restructured the former MMS, which oversaw offshore oil and gas activities; improved regulations for offshore drilling has been put in place, and; a moratorium for deepwater drilling was enacted and then recently lifted however, tougher standards have made it more difficult for oil companies to resume drilling immediately.

Military Veterans Tour the Gulf - 9/02/2010: Sierra Club toured the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico by boat with members of the U.S. military who are concerned about the connection between our country's dependence on oil, climate change and our national security.

Not So Fast - 8/16/2010: It's been almost a month since oil last gushed into the Gulf from BP's Macondo well. That's a good thing. We still can't say for sure whether BP has plugged the well for good. The "top kill" seems to be holding, but the last bit of drilling on the relief well for a "bottom kill" was delayed by bad weather. For now, though, it's looking like the end to this chapter might finally be in sight.

Oil, Lies, and Videotape - 7/16/2010: BP's plan has been to throw numbers against the wall to see what sticks. But when all is said and done, it seems like no one knows the number or even what the heck is going on.

Flag Day -- Freedom from Oil! - 6/30/2010: It's not officially Flag Day (that was June 14th), but on the National Mall in Washington, DC, today is a sort of an unofficial flag day. We've got our Beyond Oil action up and flowing in the wind on the Mall - 10,000 flags that spell out "Freedom from Oil," that volunteers worked late in the night on Tuesday to stake into the ground. These 10,000 flags represent the more than 50,000 people who took action on our Beyond Oil website asking President Obama to move our country beyond oil.

Quitting Oil, Part V - 06/28/2010: Ask yourself, what would John Muir do? He wouldn't sit on his duff, that’s for sure. Some of those politicians in Washington, D.C., have an insular view of the world. And they don’t necessarily correlate the BP oil disaster with the need to shift to clean energy and move beyond oil in the next two decades.

Cut Your Oil: Your Car - 06/15/2010: Americans burn 378 million gallons of gasoline a day, according to the U.S. Energy Information Agency. Oil is the lifeblood of the automobile, and there's no better place to start cutting down your oil usage than that metal box sitting in your driveway.

A Drop in the Bucket - 6/08/2010: Last week, I saw for myself what BP's carelessness has done to the wildlife in the Gulf. It was gut wrenching. In spite of BP's alleged efforts to limit the access of journalists and photographers, many Americans are also seeing images from the Gulf that are haunting -- oil-smothered birds, dead marine mammals, toxic sludge.

A Photo is Worth a Thousand Birds - 6/07/2010: The Gulf of Mexico spill has been pretty abstract, despite GusherCam images from the sea floor. Louisiana has many marshes and few beaches, so access to assess the spill's onshore toll is difficult. That has benefited BP, which has been accused of restricting media coverage and barring contract workers from sharing images of what they've witnessed.

Global Warming Meets Gulf Oil - 6/04/2010: The 2010 hurricane season has officially begun, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is predicting it to be a wild one. "This season could be one of the more active on record," said NOAA administrator Jane Lubchenco. Her agency project 14 to 23 named storms, 8 to 14 hurricanes, and 3 to 7 major hurricanes--all in an area increasingly contaminated with oil.

BP CEO: "I'd Like My Life Back" - 06/01/2010: BP CEO Tony Hayward is quite the character. He's the guy who blabbered that the spill is a drop in the bucket compared to the ocean's total volume. Now he complains that he wants his life back. Which life is that? I suppose it's the life in which his dirty-energy company turned record profits while bypassing basic safety standards and regulations. Hello! Your company has caused the worst spill in U.S. history (not to mention the loss of 11 people). Wake up, Mr. Hayward.

Top Kill Fails. Now What? - 5/30/2010: With the top kill idea toast, BP and government officials are looking at options. And it doesn't look good. Officials speculated that this thing might spew oil into the Gulf in August.

Plugging the Hole - 5/28/2010: "Did you plug the hole yet, Daddy?" President Obama got asked that question before he even made it to his press conference this morning. His daughter Malia poked her head in while he was shaving. Kids have a way of getting to the point. It's so basic: First, stop the bleeding. Unfortunately, for weeks President Obama has been forced to watch in frustration along with the rest of the nation as BP's attempts to stop the gushing oil met with failure.

Oil Disaster Deja-Vu - 5/28/2010: Here's a disturbing segment from MSNBC's Rachel Maddow show last night - all about some Gulf of Mexico oil spill deja-vu. Turns out a very, very similar situation as this current BP tragedy happened just over 30 years ago. And we still don't know how to fix the problems all these years later.

Oil Disaster Does Not Equal Plane Crash - 5/26/2010: Watch as Sen. Alexander of Tennessee compares the BP disaster to a plane crash. "We can't stop flying just because we have a terrible airplane crash, but we can do everything we can to make sure we don't have another one," he says.

Video: Under the Oil's Surface - 5/25/2010: Watch this ABC reporter put on a hazmat suit and dive into the oil spill. As you can imagine, beneath the surface is just as grim, if not worse. "I feel like I was just buttered," the reporter says when he gets back into the boat to take the suit off.

Gulf Aid Fundraiser -- Who Gets the Funds? - 5/19/2010: I just recently read a blog post by the nonprofit Bucket Brigade regarding Saturday's Gulf Aid concert, which was designed to fundraise monies to assist those negatively affected by the oil disaster. The post explains that the Bucket Brigade was almost asked to leave the show (for rather vague reasons involving targeting British Petroleum through one of their signs and asking for donations).

Fighting Oil With Hair - 5/18/2010: Lisa Gautier, who co-founded Matter of Trust, is partnering with other organizations in an ongoing drive to deliver tons of hair stuffed in pantyhose to the Gulf to soak up the oil. Yesterday I had the opportunity to chat with her on the phone. She's a pretty busy person these days. Matter of Trust began its hair collecting drive 10 years ago. The effort really took off after the Cosco Busan spill three years ago. But it was only after the BP disaster last month that the hair idea exploded.

60 Minutes - 5/17/2010: If you didn't see "60 Minutes", take a few minutes to watch these interviews. It's a four part series with the second recounting the tale of Mike Williams, the Chief Electronics Technician aboard the Deepwater Horizon who had to dive from a ten-story height to survive.

"When I popped back up I felt like ok, I've made it, but I felt this god-awful burning all over me...I could tell I was floating in oil..."

"How many disasters will it take until our leaders decide to act? We don't want to see one more oil disaster. The BP disaster was supposed to be the wake up call, but we hit the snooze button. Today the alarm went off again."

Time is running out before the 111th Congress breaks for the last time. This is our final chance to pass a bill in the Senate that gives affected communities input into oil industry decisions and ensures that fines from the BP disaster are used to restore the Gulf.

Call your U.S. senators and tell them to pass a bill in response to the BP disaster before adjourning.